Environmental Protection
OUR PRODUCTS ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
WE ARE CHANGING THE TIDE.
While “Ethically mined” and “Ethically sourced” are terms that can be seen more and more frequently in the crystal market, nobody really talks about the environmental impacts of the crystal industry.
With crystals and crystal products from Gemrock Peru you can be sure that your crystals are:
HOW WE CAN STATE THIS SO CLEARLY?
READ BELOW WHY:
If you have a gemstone or jewelry retail business, please feel free to visit our wholesale website
WHY OUR CRYSTALS ARE TRULY ETHICALLY MINED AND SOURCED:
Illegal mining must be defined as a type of mining that is against the law, which includes a number of possible cases like mining in protected areas, mining without permission, working in mines or on mining concessions of another company without their permission, extraction of protected resources, etc.
Gemrock Peru does not engage in illegal mining and does not cooperate with illegal miners. Here is what we do to make sure that our company is not related to illegal mining:
Gold: We are not sourcing gold for our jewelry from illegal rainforest mining operations. An easy way to make sure that our gold and silver is legal is to buy it only from sources that provide an official invoice and to refrain from any cash payments. If there is a bank involved and a paper trail (official documentation) does exist, then one can be sure that the provider is legal.
Rough Rock: We are not sourcing rough rock or crystals from providers that may be engaged in illegal mining. Again, avoiding cash payments and buying only if a legal invoice is provided is a way to make sure we deal with a legal miner.
Pyrite: 95% of Peruvian Pyrite comes from Huanzala mine in Ancash. And basically 100% of this material has been stolen at night from inside the nickel mine. In January 2022 the mine management denounced a nationwide network of organized crime in connection with drug trafficking to be managing the pyrite trade and asked the Peruvian state prosecutor to investigate and act against this illegal network. The document given to the Peruvian state prosecutors mentions Gemrock Peru as the only Peruvian crystal exporter having an exclusive buyer contract for pyrite with the mine and not belonging to this network.
Informal mining is a type of mining where the mining concession holder does hold the required documents and permits for the mining, but all his mining activities are not reported to the authorities, meaning the entire mining operation sells the extracted minerals against cash payment (no paper trail, no tax payments) and miners are working without formal labor contracts. They don´t receive labor benefits like vacations, health insurance, accident insurance, life insurance or retirement benefits. If something happens to them, they are on their own. It is common place for Peruvian crystal exporters to source their materials from such informal mining operations.
We are refusing to accept rocks or crystals from providers that want cash payments. All our crystals are sourced from miners that provide us with formal invoices. All payments are made via bank wire. Our expenditure for sourcing therefore is visible to governmental authorities which are now able to identity the source for our material and check on the provider any time they wish. Our procedures do force our providers to have their permits and paperwork in order and become formal and legal miners.
In 2021 we started our own small scale crystal mining operations and we are in progress of growing this new branch of our business. When mining ourselves we have total control of the environmental impacts caused and our workers are hired under regular labor contracts being provided with all legally required benefits and safety measures. All our products coming from our own mining operations are clearly marked as such.
Definitely, making our own mining in a growing number of locations, is the best way to make sure that our crystals are environmentally friendly and ethically sourced. If you have a crystal business or if you are looking for a sustainable investment opportunity, you can become a partner in our Global Ethical Mining Initiative
Luckily mining of gemstones and crystals in Peru is not located in conflict areas with exemption of the amazonite mines, which are located in the VRAEM, the valley of the three rivers Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro, a “lawless” region overrun by “narco-terrorists”, where about 70 percent of Peru’s cocaine is produced. Today, an estimated 300 ex-terrorist fighters remain in the region protecting and controlling drug production. Because of this we are not sourcing amazonite.
Luckily Peru has enacted a number of laws strictly prohibiting child labor in mining operations and has implemented those laws too, so that at least for all legal and formal mining operations one can state that child labor is not an issue anymore. None of our providers is known for or has been seen employing children. If that would ever occur we would immediately sever our contacts with such a provider.
No mining for Peruvian gemstones and crystals is located in the Peruvian rainforest. Most mining operations are located on the westerns slopes of the Andes and in the coastal desert of Peru, being one of the driest deserts on earth with very little plant or animal life to be harmed and with nearly no underground water bodies to be contaminated. Additionally gemstone and crystal mining is not using any chemicals, with dynamite being used for underground mining being the only chemical used. Environmental impacts therefore are from a start relatively low to very low for Peruvian crystal mining operations.
In our own mining operations we are making sure that physical impacts are kept as low as possible and that all produced trash is transported out of the area.
Make your crystal being CARBON-POSITIVE
So far, nobody sells carbon-neutral crystals in the world. Lets go together even a step further:
Mining, transport, lapidary work and final shipping to your home, all these steps carry environmental impacts caused by the use of water, energy and other resources. Gemrock Peru is the first crystal company measuring its carbon footprint, which for 2021 is 181.7 t of CO2 emissions. Based on this analysis we now can initiate concrete measures in order to reduce this footprint a little more each year. However the only way to reach zero carbon emissions is to plant trees in other places which extract CO2 from the atmosphere and this way do eliminate the emissions caused by us.
We now can offer you the unique opportunity to buy a carbon-neutral crystal. If you would be willing to add just 1.5 cents to every USD of your crystal cost, this would be enough to plant the trees required to eliminate all carbon emitted for your crystal. In order to do so, choose the option “Carbon-Positive-Price” when ordering your crystal.
Even better: we will match your support
We are going to reward your conscious act by matching your donation. We will invest the same amount you do and therefore make sure that more trees are planted than necessary to get to zero carbon. This way together we can create Carbon-positive-Crystals that help improve the environment and not only avoid further damage.
Also keep in mind that by recovering rainforest you will
- provide new habitat for hundreds of other plants and thousands of animal species as well as
- producing additional oxygen,
- avoid soil erosion and
- improve the local water management.
Paying the Carbon-Positive-Price is not a big financial sacrifice but a huge step forward to save our planet.
Thank you for your support.
Still not “GREEN” enough?
So lets put one on top of all: buy a crystal-NFT and earn money while saving the world
Our carbon-positive crystal is still not “green” enough for you?
Or maybe you don´t like donating because you feel its money lost?
If so we have an alternative suggestion:
Become a Crystal-NFT investor and earn money while saving the world.
How it works in a nutshell:
Invest in buying one of our crystal NFTs on the platform “Open Sea”. 50% of your invested money will be invested into a reforestation project. As a crystal-NFT-Owner you will enjoy the following benefits:
A permanent 10% discount on all our products (exemption: already reduced products) as long as you are holding at least 1 crystal NFT.
Increasing value of your investment due to the rise of value of the underlying crypto currency ETH provides profit when reselling the NFT
Increasing value of the NFT thru rising demand provides profit when reselling the NFT.
If you keep holding the NFT long term you will profit from annual payouts generated thru the sale of carbon credits, once the reforestation project has advanced to the point of trees growing and cleaning the atmosphere. You will benefit with passive income for decades to come.
Interested?
Other things we do:
The Global Ethical Mining Partnership
A spearheading initative to bring other crystal businesses on board
The global ethical crystal mining partnership is a spearheading initiative founded in October 2021 by Gemrock Peru S.A.C. and a number of our corporative clients. We are aiming to provide a transparent system of cooperation that provides crystal shops all around the world with the opportunity to claim successfully that their crystal products are truly ethically mined and sourced.
Our goals are:
- to provide a complete and transparent paper trail from the mine to the shop,
- to support the development of a third party certification system,
- to promote an opportunity for ethically-minded final customers to buy their crystals with a clear consciousness,
- to provide an opportunity to reduce environmental impacts of mining and to provide healthy and fair labour conditions to workers in all steps of the production chain.
How does it work – in a nutshell:
In order to be able to claim that a crystal product is ethically mined/sourced, all involved companies from the mine to crystal shop must become partners. They must be able to provide a complete paper trail of all transactions along the way.
If you are a business owner in the crystal industry and you are interested:
Gemrock Peru S.A.C. is also a wholesale company. Our ethically mined products are sold to many crystal shops on five continents. More and more of our commercial crystal shop customers are becoming partners in our Global Ethical Mining Partnership and do invest into ethical mining operations.
If you want to help us growing the movement and changing the tide, ask your local crystalshop if they are already a partner in our global network and make them aware of this initiative. Thank you for your support.